This document provides a step-by-step tutorial for creating a frequency distribution table in Excel. It explains how to: 1. Prepare the data by naming columns and creating a "FreqDist" sheet. 2. Fill out a template table with parameters like number of observations, class interval, and minimum/maximum values. 3. Use formulas to determine values like class limits, frequencies, and cumulative percentages. 4. Copy formulas down to automatically generate the full distribution table. The tutorial demonstrates an easy way to analyze numeric data sets in Excel by creating frequency distributions.

1. Frequency Distribution
of Numeric data:
Step-wise Tutorial using
Excel

2. Frequency Distribution Table
Displays the no. of
occurrences or
frequencies of
various outcomes
in a sample or a
population.
Class f %
Cumulative
f
Cumulative
%
10 - 20 492 8.9 492 8.9
20 - 30 602 10.9 1094 19.8
30 - 40 632 11.4 1726 31.2
40 - 50 670 12.1 2396 43.3
50 - 60 620 11.2 3016 54.5
60 - 70 619 11.2 3635 65.7
70 - 80 631 11.4 4266 77.1
80 - 90 600 10.8 4866 88
90 - 100 665 12 5531 100

3. Let us start with a set of data
To illustrate how easy it is with Excel, a set of
fictitious data of 5531 patients of Hypertension who
were treated with an antihypertensive drug is
presented
Data set is resident in Sheet1 which has been
renamed “Data Table” to make it easy to remember

4. Rename Sheet 2 as
“FreqDist” to
accommodate Frequency
Distribution table

5. Should be descriptive i.e. they should indicate the type of data
contained in the field
Units of measurement should be mentioned where needed e.g.
HeightCm, WeightKg etc
Many workers use underscore to separate the field name and
units e.g. Height_cm, Weight_kg
In this presentation, underscores have been dispensed with and
the first letter of the units has been capitalized for convenience
e.g. HeightCm instead of Height_cm
Field Titles

6. In Excel, data is referred to as addresses of
the cells in which it resides
It is impossible to remember the cell addresses
in which data of Age, Height and all other
numeric fields reside
We can give names to a range of data so as to
use the Range Name e.g. Age instead of cell
address (C2:C5532)

7. Select the entire data and instruct
Excel to give the Name in the top
cell of each column to all the data
below that field name e.g.
C2:C5532 would be named as Age,
E2:E5532 as HeightCm and so on

8. • Select all data (Ctrl-A)
• Formulas  Defined Names Create from Selection
Top Row
OK

9. For Frequency Distribution Table,
you need to determine:
•Number of observations (n)
•Range of data (DataRange)
•Number of Classes (c)
•Class Interval (i)

10. •Construction of Classes
•Determination of
frequencies (f)
•Other parameters
(%, cum. f, Cum % etc)
Subsequent
Steps

11. Prepare the area for Frequency Distribution Table
in FreqDist sheet
You can use field names to refer to the data
relating to the field. You can use cell addresses but
it is cumbersome
Copy the field names from Data Table to FreqDist
sheet so that you donot have to go to the Data
Table for field names or their spellings

12. • Field names copied to FreqDist sheet by method of user’s choice

13. • Prepare this blank table
• Contains parameters
required for Frequency
Distribution Table

14. We will now give the name “Field” to B3, “n” to
B4 and so on I.e. contents in Cells A3 to A9 will
be used as Names for Cells B3 to B9 for
convenience
This can be done in one go by giving B3:B9 the
names from the left column as shown in the next
slides

15. • Select A3:B9 (Coloured cells)
• Click Formulas  Defined
Names  Create from Selection

16. Click Left Column to give
contents of Col. A as names to
the adjoining cells in Col. B
OK

17. Time to fill the blank table

18. Put here the name of the
field you will use for the
Frquency Distribution Table
in the next few steps
Formula

19. Give name RawData to Field of
Interest
Select the Column Age in Data Table Sheet by
clicking C1 i.e. Age and then pressing
Ctrl+Shift+↓ to select all data-containing cells
in the column
Go to Name Box and type RawData to give
this alias to the field Age

20. Why use a single Alias?
You can use cell references or range names of different ranges
(fields) for creating separate Frequency Distribution tables
Using a single alias for all fields, turn by turn, has the
advantage that you only change the column reference of
RawData and it starts representing the new field
Saves plenty of time and energy

21. Frequency Distribution
of Age

22. Determination of “n”
Can easily be done by using the COUNT
function of Excel
All you have to do is click cell B6 and
enter “=count(RawData)” without
quotes
Cell B6 has the name “n”. You can
access this data by using this name

23. Determination of “n”
“=” tells Excel that what follows is a
formula and not merely text
COUNT function counts all cells which
contain numeric data, even if it is zero,
i.e. it gives “n”
It will not count cells which are blank
or contain text

24. “n”
Formula

25. Correct “n” reassures that all cells
will be used in the subsequent steps
“n” will also be used for calculating
percentages

26. Determination of Minimum and
Maximum Values
For minimum value, enter
“=min(RawData)” in B7
For maximum value, enter
“=max(RawData)” in B8

27. Determines
minimum value
Formula

28. Determines
maximum value
Formula

29. Determination of Data Range
Range = Maximum – Minimum + 1
Range can also be taken as Maximum –
Minimum
Whatever you decide, be consistent

30. Range = Max. – Min. + 1
Formula

31. No. of Classes (C)
Several formulas available
to calculate C
Best to go by conventions in
your area of work

32. Class Interval (i): General
“i” should be an odd number below 8
(1, 3, 5, 7) or 2 or 10.
Larger and smaller numbers can be
multiples or factors of these (2.5, 7.5,
15, 25, 50, 75, 100, 125, 200, 250 etc)

33. i = Range/c
Fractions are avoided by modified formula as
i = roundup(Range/C, 0)
This ROUNDs the answer UP to the next higher
whole number (0 decimal places)
In the given worksheet, the user has to enter
“i” manually but he must keep the principles
on this and previous slide in mind
Class Interval (i): Calculation

34. Class Interval decided and
entered by the user

35. Lower Limit of Lowest Class (LL1)
LL1 is the key calculation in frequency
distribution
LL1 must be a multiple of i
Should be less than or equal to minimum
value so that the lowest class contains the
minimum value

36. Ll1 (Contd)
In the formula “=int(MinVal/EntClassInt) * EntClassInt”,
int(MinVal/EntClassInt) calculates the quotient (integer) of the division
(whole number and ignores the remainder or modulus)
On multiplication with class interval (EntClassInt), it gives LL1
Here, MinVal = 12, i = 10, LL1 = int(12/10) * 10 = int(1.2) * 10 = 1 * 10
= 10. Hence the lowest class (StartClass) should begin with 10

37. Lower limit of Lowest Class (LL1)
Formula

38. Construction of Classes

39. Construction of Classes: General
Principles
All classes should be equal & continuous (No gaps
even if the frequency for the relevant class is 0)
Open-ended classes not provided for in this
presentation
Classes with zero data are not allowed at the top
or bottom

40. Skeleton Table for Frequency
Distribution
Prepare a skeleton Frequency Distribution Table as shown in
next slide
It will be used as a template for showing Frequency
Distribution of different fields, one field at a time
It provides for upto 20 classes in the Frequency Distribution
Table
If lesser no. of classes are used for any field, remaining rows
will remain blank

41. Template for
Frequency
Distribution
Table
For Total

42. Preparing the Lowest Class

43. Lower Limit of
Lowest Class
(LL1) = StartClass
Formula

44. If(E5 = “”, “”, ……………..)
“=If(E5 = “”, “”, ………..) in the next slide means that if the
“From” cell (E5 here) is blank, leave this cell also blank
This ensures Blank rows, if there is no data in the “From”
cell of any row
The formula in the next slide adds “I” to LL1 to get UL1

45. Upper Limit of
Lowest Class (UL1)
Formula

46. Concatenation Operation
The formula in the next slide, concatenates (joins
fragments of text) the numbers in “From” and
“To” columns, separated by a hyphen.
This column is not required for mathematical
operations but is very useful to show the classes
when you prepare an observation table or a graph
or chart from the Frequency Distribution Table

47. Class for
Observation Table
or Graph
Formula

48. Using COUNTIF to Count
Frequencies
“COUNT” simply counts numeric-data containing cells
irrespective of their values
“COUNTIF”, on the other hand, counts cells that contain
values that meet pre-defined criteria e.g. < 10, > 20, ≥ 30,
<> (not equal to) 40 and so on
COUNTIF will be used to count cells which contain data
belonging to a specific class, turn by turn

49. Two Methods of Determining
Frequencies
 Frequency (f) for 30-40 class = Count cells
containing values ≥ 30 and < 40
 f for 30-40 class also determined as Cumulative f for < 40
minus Cumulative f for < 30
 In this presentation, the second method has been used

50. Need for “From” and “Upto”
ColumnsNow we shall ask Excel to read an UPTO value from a
cell (e.g. F5) and count the cells in the range in
question (RawData) that contain values below that
(F5)
For this reason, we have to have separate “From (≥)”
and “Upto (<)” columns.
The mathematical symbols also indicate that for the
30-40 class, all values 30 or more (upto, but less than
40) will be placed in the 30-40 class whereas 40 and
above (upto, but less than 50) in the 40-50 class

51. Count of cells
containing
values less than
UL1 (F5 i.e. 20)
Formula

52. %age rounded to
one decimal place
Formula

53. For Lowest Class,
f = Cumulative f
Formula

54. %age rounded to
one decimal place
Running totals
of f & %
Formula

55. Preparing the Second Class

56. Copy first row to the second
and change formulas of two
cells (Next slide)

57. The 1st part ensures that if MaxVal has
already been crossed, a blank row is
produced, otherwise “i“ is added to LL1
(Do NOT enter LL2 = UL1 as sometimes
you may want a gap as discussed later)
Formula

58. “f” for this class is calculated as
“Cum f” for this Class minus
“Cum f” of preceding Class
Formula

59. Preparing Higher Classes:
Piece of Cake

60. Copy 2nd row to all
the other blue rows.

61. Frequency Distribution Table is ready!
For Totals use SUM function in the Total
Row

62. • Frequency Distribution Table is ready!
• Get Totals by using SUM function in the Total Row
• Check Total by selecting the data in the “f”
column, sum shows up in the status bar as long
as you keep data selected

63. Frequency
Distribution
Chart/Graph

64. Select Columns which
contain classes & f along
with Column Headings
(G4:H13)

65. Insert  Recommended
Charts  Select Chart
OK

66. Format the chart as required

67. Frequency
Distribution
with other class
intervals
I want data in
classes of 15 each

68. All you have to do is to change the
EntClassInt value which you had
entered earlier
Let us see the effects of changing the
Class interval from 10 to 15

69. Class Interval = 15
Instantaneous change
in Table & Graph

70. Comparison with
automatic Data
Analysis tool

71. Data 
Data Analysis
Histogram

72. Input Range, Bin
Range, Output
Range, Type of
Output

73. Frequencies do
NOT match

74. Works well for
discrete classes

75. • Understand the
working of tools
before you use themCaution

76. Save this Workbook for Future Use
A little laborious to get the Frequency
Distribution for the first time
Save this table
After this comes the easy part

77. To get the frequency distribution of other fields,
turn by turn, all you have to do is to change the
cell reference of the RawData range
To get the frequency distribution of HeightCm,
you have to change the cell reference of
RawData to that of HeightCm i.e. from
$C$2:$C$5532 to $E$2:$E$5532
If your data is in a rectangular table, just change
the two column references from C to E, without
disturbing the row numbers.

78. Frequency Distribution
of other numeric fields
e.g. HeightCm

79. Formulas  Defined
Names  Name Manager
 RawData  Edit

80. Change Column from C to E
at both places

81. Frequency Distribution of
HeightCm by merely
changing Column
reference at two places
=E1 to get the
new field name
Change Class
Interval, if required

82. This way you can change Columns in RawData
to the columns of any other numeric field to
get the frequency distribution of that field
You can also change the graph type and its
formatting as desired

83. For Discontinuous data,
use discontinuous classes
e.g. 10-19, 20-29 etc

84. Change Upper Limit of
starting class (UL1) only.
Others will adjust
Note this is NOT “live”

85. For true (Actual) Class Limits,
subtract half unit from lower limit
and add half unit to upper limit e.g.
for 10-19, you should take 9.5-19.5
into account. For 20-29, take 19.5
to 29.5 into account and so on

86. Reduce by half Unit

87. Automatic adjustment
Formula

88. Round LL1 upwards &
UL1 downwards
New Class

89. No change required in
subsequent rows